Walking works

We all know the benefits of taking the stairs to break up your work day, but have you thought about taking that to the next level? Australia’s biggest vertical race, the annual Eureka Climb, presented by OsteoEze takes place on Sunday, November 15 and by joining in you can help rebuild young lives with their two charity partners, Whitelion and Interplast.

There’s a special elite category, plus you’ll see a big turn-out of policemen, firemen and ambos in their special emergency services category. Apparently three-time winner and race record-holder Mark Bourne can bound up the 88 floors in 7 minutes and 34 seconds. But if you can’t leap tall buildings in a single bound, you may still be surprised to hear that the average time to complete the course is only around 30 minutes, making it something we can easily fit into our Sunday morning schedule.

So if you can spare half an hour to do some cardio, work those thighs to the tune of 1642 steps and support two amazing charities, register yourself at www.eurekaclimb.com.au today.

Or keep it on the flat

If your idea of exercise is to keep it at ground level, don your sneakers for annual Walk to Work Day on Friday, November 14.

Diabetes Australia and the Pedestrian Council of Australia are holding the event, now in its 17th year, to help raise awareness and money for the prevention and treatment of diabetes. Professor Greg Johnson, Diabetes Australia CEO, says that type 2 diabetes is one of the biggest threats to the health and productivity of all Australians.

In a large city like Melbourne, it isn’t always possible to walk the entire journey so participants can walk to the station, or get off the train a few stops earlier. The organisers ask that we all pledge to walk at least a kilometre on our way to work on the 14th, which also marks World Diabetes Day.

Once you get to the city, look out for brekky-stands set up at Parliament House, Southbank pedestrian footbridge, Flinders St Station and Melbourne Central Stations. Check out www.walk.com.au

Avoid doing a Jack Trengove

Those who continue to follow the AFL during the off-season will have felt sympathy for Melbourne footballer Jack Trengove when it was revealed this week that his move to Richmond was put on hold after scans showed that stress fracture in the navicular bone in his foot had taken a turn for the worst.

Trengove played only two matches this season after the hotspot was noticed and his entire year has been spent in the frustrating no-man’s-land waiting for it to heal. Just as the docs gave him the thumbs up to start running again it appears that the small crack has reappeared.

Stress fractures are not just the thing of elite athletes and in many cases, we are more likely to see them with social sportsmen and women due to the lack of professional advice on training loads and accessibility to scans. Many who’ve had a stress fracture would tell a similar story to Jack’s so if you’re training at high intensity or for a specific event, talk to your personal trainer or physio to make sure you avoid overloading.